I’ve heard plenty of parents complain, “My toddler won’t nap!” What’s a parent to do in this situation?
I bet that when your toddler was an infant he did nap. All infants nap. So at some point the napping stopped. If your toddler was napping regularly until about the age of 3, then it’s possible they’ve grown out of their need for a nap. Often it’s the parents who want the kids to continue napping so they get some extra child-free time. If that is your situation, I suggest you replace “nap time” with “quiet time”. We did this in our house and it worked beautifully. Just allow your toddler to play quietly or perhaps watch a children’s DVD while sitting on the couch with his comfort objects (blanket, stuffed animals, etc). This will give your toddler a much needed rest. It’s the next best thing to a nap for the parent also.
For those of you saying, “My toddler won’t nap and he still needs a nap!”, let’s analyze this scenario. Most likely what has happened is your toddler has come to the conclusion that he’s missing out on something. So nap time now has a negative association. I highly recommend creating a new positive association to napping by discussing, with your toddler, what you’ll do after the nap is over. Always schedule something fun that you can have your toddler look forward to. This will re-build a positive association to the nap. Remember, behavior is driven by emotion. If your toddler has a new negative emotion regarding naps, he won’t want to nap. So it’s your job to make turn the nap into something positive. Giving your toddler something to look forward to after the nap is one way to accomplish this.
In my talking to toddlers audio course, I teach parents how to get their toddlers to cooperate by using language techniques. Get your free audio lesson.
Enjoy your children,
Chris Thompson
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha. My son has NEVER napped. Even when he was an infant! Now he’s 15 months and still only taking two 15 minute cat naps per day!!!
What a marvelous idea. I'll sit down and discuss with my 13 month old toddler what we'll do after nap time. That'll solve the problem. A young toddler simply does not understand the concept of 'later' or 'after'.
Kirsty – with all due respect, you are trapped inside of a box with your thinking here. You are transforming the words “create a positive association” into “have a chat with your kid”. That's not what I wrote, and not what I'm suggesting. The association has to be created in a different way (either through example, or vivid imagination of what will happen “later”, etc.
My audio program is geared to parents who have kids who are 2+.
What a marvelous idea. I'll sit down and discuss with my 13 month old toddler what we'll do after nap time. That'll solve the problem. A young toddler simply does not understand the concept of 'later' or 'after'.
Kirsty – with all due respect, you are trapped inside of a box with your thinking here. You are transforming the words “create a positive association” into “have a chat with your kid”. That's not what I wrote, and not what I'm suggesting. The association has to be created in a different way (either through example, or vivid imagination of what will happen “later”, etc.
My audio program is geared to parents who have kids who are 2+.
My 13 month old son has recently stopped napping altogether, which I assumed would make him have an earlier bedtime, however this is not the case. He refuses to go to bed any earlier and is now staying up later than his usual bedtime. I need help I feel as though my child is an insomniac. He is on the go all day long and still refuses to sleep. Why is he not getting tired?
13 months is definitely on the early side to have no naps. He probably does need more sleep than he’s getting. Keep in mind I’m not an expert at sleep issues with infants, and at his age it’s a bit young to apply any of my language strategies.
What happens when you simply put him down for a nap? What’s the outcome that you get? Send me an email if you like. info at talkingtotoddlers.com
I’ll try anything at this point. I really hope he hasn’t out grown nap time, but we’ll see. He turns 3 this month… But, an early bed time is too!
Early bed time is great too*